


How To Scare Off Your Barista

by Yuuzel



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Angst for a few seconds, Domestic Fluff, Kuroo Tetsurou is a Mess, M/M, Mutual Pining, Yaku makes an appearance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-19
Updated: 2020-09-19
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:48:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26542447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yuuzel/pseuds/Yuuzel
Summary: Kuroo Tetsurou suddenly has to go from pining for a barista to pining for his temporary roommate.He does a very bad job.
Relationships: Kuroo Tetsurou/Sugawara Koushi
Comments: 4
Kudos: 46
Collections: Haikyuu Rarepair Exchange 2020





	How To Scare Off Your Barista

**Author's Note:**

  * For [eelora](https://archiveofourown.org/users/eelora/gifts).



> I hope you enjoy this gift!  
> Writing this was a lot of fun, since you said you like the usual fluff prompts, I just threw two of them together and ran with it. Hope you like it!

Crushing on a barista was easy. Admiring him from a distance was easy, rarely saying more than five words to him was easier and thinking about him every day was the easiest. 

The situation Tetsurou currently found himself in was everything but easy.

“Hi, it’s very nice to meet you! My name is Sugawara, but you can call me Suga,” the very attractive man in front of him said.  
Usually, Tetsurou would have been more than happy to find out an attractive man’s name. Except, he already knew his name. He saw it every day when getting his morning coffee.

The barista Tetsurou had been crushing on for five months, was standing in front of him, and had just been introduced to him by Yaku as his temporary roommate.  
Who could have blamed him for blankly staring at Suga and forgetting to introduce himself?

As it turned out, Yaku could.  
“Say something, idiot!” Yaku mumbled under his breath, elbowing Kuroo. It hurt quite a bit, Yaku had a very pointy elbow.

Tetsurou had to pull himself together.  
“It’s nice to meet you, too, Suga! I’m Kuroo Tetsurou, I look forward to living with you.” 

Shit, was that too much? Was it weird to tell someone you were looking forward to living with them?  
It was probably fine, it had to be, otherwise, Yaku would have kicked him. 

Tetsurou didn’t have time to think about it anymore, because Suga started smiling. And it was not the doubtlessly pretty but slightly artificial customer service smile, it was a real smile. The corners of Suga’s eyes were wrinkled, his mole almost disappearing, and, wow, his teeth were really white, and was that a dimple?

This was going to be either the best or the most difficult month of Tetsurou’s life. 

***

Yaku had been the one to suggest a temporary roommate when he found out about being accepted to a trip to Russia, organized by their university.  
At first, Tetsurou had not been thrilled about it, there were after all certain liberties that only came with living with your best friend, but Yaku had insisted, claiming that it would be easier on their finances.  
Tetsurou quickly came around after finding out who exactly he would be rooming with.

Ever since his childhood, Tetsurou had been well acquainted with the scent of coffee. His dad was an avid coffee drinker and every morning, Tetsurou would be woken up by the scent drifting into his room.  
That had not happened since he moved out, Yaku and him preferred to buy their coffee on their way to class - it was probably more expensive in the long run, but they were not about to shell out for some expensive coffee machine.

When Tetsurou woke up, for a second he thought that he was back at home.  
But at home, the scent was never this strong.  
Maybe he shouldn’t have been surprised to find Suga humming in the kitchen, frying eggs at the stove, two steaming cups of coffee on their tiny kitchen table.

There probably was no way to feel prepared for that sight. Anyone would be shocked to find their crush standing at their stove in an adorable oversized shirt - was that a shrimp? -, with a ridiculously fluffy looking bedhead, cooking breakfast. Surely nobody could blame him for the way his heart dropped into his stomach.

Still, Tetsurou would not let himself be defeated this easily. He was strong. He was charming. And he would use his strength to charm Suga.

“Good morning,” Tetsurou called out, pleased to hear that his voice was still rough from sleeping. People seemed to like low voices, and he hoped Suga did, too. 

“Hey you!” Suga was grinning way too brightly for this early in the morning. “I was starting to think I'd have to drag you out of bed.” 

Tetsurou sat down at the kitchen table, after making sure to stretch high enough that some of his abs would be exposed. He didn’t work out regularly to not try and use it to his advantage. 

“Hey, would you mind throwing three more eggs into the pan for me?”

Suga raised his eyebrow. “Don’t want me to remove the shell?”

“Nah,” Tetsurou chuckled, “I like some crunch - wait, Suga, wait, don’t actually do it-”

The eggs ended up tasting questionable, but Tetsurou was too happy about eating Suga’s food to inform him of that, and the coffee was amazing, just like he liked it.

Tetsurou kept thinking about Suga in his kitchen during his classes, at the gym, and on his way home.

***

Nothing made Tetsurou sleepy like a warm shower, but no self-respecting college student would go to sleep before midnight, so instead he had to make do with spreading out on his couch without a shirt and watching some shitty documentary, as always.  
Well, usually he wore a shirt, but desperate times required desperate measures.

Suga was not home yet, Tetsurou presumed he was still at work, serving some poor souls their 9 pm coffee. 

He still was not sure whether to do anything about his crush on Suga. It was just infatuation, there was no way Suga could actually match the picture Tetsurou had built up of him in his head. There was no way a person could be as kind, open and lovely as Suga’s smile suggested. 

And if Suga really was as great as Tetsurou was expecting him to be, well, then Tetsurou had a problem. He had responsibilities, he couldn’t just spend an entire month pining after his temporary roommate. 

But maybe, they could become friends, and stay in contact. Suga had been easy to get along with in the morning, and kind enough to make Tetsurou coffee, and if it went on like this, maybe Tetsurou could make a move after the month was up. 

Tetsurou heard the door open.

“I’m home!” Suga called out cheerfully, much too cheerfully for this time of day. 

“Welcome home,” Tetsurou shouted back, adjusting his posture quickly.  
Like a good posture would make up for the fact that he was watching a documentary about… weird crab species?

“Oh are those strawberry crabs?” Suga poked his head into the living room. “I’ll take a quick shower and join you, if that’s okay!”

“Sure!” 

Tetsurou would get to sit on a couch and watch weird crabs with his crush.  
At that moment, he couldn’t help but send a silent ‘thank you’ to Yaku for choosing to study linguistics and going to Russia. 

***

The ‘thank you’ was quickly replaced with a ‘send help’, when Suga actually joined Tetsurou on the couch.  
Suga’s hair was still wet, his curls a bit flatter than usual, and he had a towel around his shoulders to catch any dripping water. His skin was still a bit flushed from the shower, and his extremely soft-looking pajama shirt had a smiling cartoon tomato on it.

“I think I’ve seen this one before,” Suga said after a while of watching small red crabs crawl around in the sand, “let’s make it more fun.”

“Are you implying there is something more fun than watching weird crabs eating snails while some old guy narrates?” Tetsurou pretended to be offended.

Smiling mysteriously, Suga took the remote control and turned off the volume.

“Yes, there is, watching weird crabs while I narrate.”

Oh no, so he was pretty and nice and fun and weird.  
Tetsurou was screwed. 

“You are watching the orangutan crab perform a mating dance. The way in which the male crab moves his weird little furry legs is reminiscent of a jellyfish,” Suga said with a serious voice - seriously, his voice sounded way too nice for the nonsense he was speaking - and held the remote in front of Tetsurou’s face like a microphone. 

“Uh, are you sure I should-”

“Quick, before they show a different crab!” Suga punched him in the arm excitedly. 

“Okay, so,” Tetsurou cleared his throat and tried doing his best impression of an old man in a recording booth, “Through imitating a different species, the male crab shows off his camouflage abilities, as well as proving his upper arm strength.” 

“You’re doing great,” Suga leaned in and whispered into his ear, as if there was anyone actually listening to them. But instead of leaning against the back of the couch again, he laid his head on Tetsurou’s shoulder with a yawn. His hair still had not dried and it was tickling Tetsurou’s jaw.  
Tetsurou tried to smell Suga’s hair as inconspicuously as possible. Artificial coconut had never smelled this nice before. 

Suga continued narrating the documentary, but his voice was getting quieter and his sentences were getting slower. “Through this technique, the crab can show that he is capable of taking care of a family and can hold all of his ten children in his big, strong, fuzzy arms at the same time.”

It took actual real effort for Tetsurou to not offer carrying Suga to bed in his own strong, hairy arms.  
Suga only started holding onto Tetsurou’s arm at that moment because of pure coincidence, no connection at all, he was probably just tired.

A few days ago, Tetsurou dreamed of even speaking to Suga for more than three minutes, and now Suga was cuddling up to him on his couch. In his apartment. At 11 pm. And Tetsurou was still not wearing a shirt.  
He couldn’t help but wonder when he was going to wake up from this, surely Suga couldn’t be this real and cuddly and perfect. 

Instead of Tetsurou waking up, Suga eventually fell asleep, still on his shoulder.  
The words ‘platonic cuddling’ were running through Tetsurou’s head on repeat.  
Cuddling with shirtless friends was completely normal, Bokuto always did it after all! 

And if Tetsurou hoisted Suga into his arms, carried him into Yaku’s bedroom, and tucked him in gently, well, then he was just being a good and considerate friend. 

*** 

Tetsurou had worked as a barista before, he knew that it was impossible to remember every customer, even if they were a regular.  
The coffee shop Suga worked at was in a very busy location, he probably served hundreds of people during one shift.  
Suga clearly had not recognized Tetsurou when moving in and Tetsurou felt weird walking past the coffee shop on his way to university. 

This morning, however, Suga had an early shift and hadn’t had the time to make coffee for Tetsurou. And Tetsurou really needed his coffee to function during class, especially considering the fact that he and Suga had stayed up until 1am watching bizarre cartoons from their childhood on Suga’s laptop.

Tetsurou was standing in front of the coffee shop, contemplating whether to go in.

Had Suga ever actually told him where his workplace was, during the week they had been living together?  
It could seem creepy to just show up at his workplace unannounced, if Suga really hadn’t told Tetsurou about it.  
Or worse, Tetsurou might be forced to reveal that he was a regular at the coffee shop and didn’t tell Suga when they introduced themselves.  
But he also didn’t want to lie to Suga and pretend to stumble in by coincidence.  
He hesitantly looked through the glass door, only to catch a glimpse of fluffy grey hair and quickly turn around and walk away.  
He’d tell Suga eventually, but right now he needed to gather his thoughts and take a nap during his chemistry lecture.

***

When Tetsurou came home in the afternoon, he wasn’t greeted by Suga’s usual cheery ‘welcome home’. Well, Suga still greeted him, but it was a lot less enthusiastic than usual. Tetsurou had gotten used to Suga’s infectious energy.  
Something was off. 

Suga was sitting on the couch, typing on his laptop, wearing reading glasses.  
It was the first time Tetsurou saw him with glasses, and his heart did a painful jump at the sight. The glasses tragically covered up Suga’s mole, but they made his eyes look bigger and somehow made him look more adorable and smarter at the same time. 

“Everything alright?” Tetsurou asked, leaning over the back of the couch to look at the laptop screen. 

“I’m working on something for school, Tetsurou,” Suga replied, his voice and his shoulders stiffening visibly. 

Maybe Suga was just tired or stressed, in which Tetsurou would have loved to help him. “Do you need anything? Water or something?” 

Abruptly, Suga closed his laptop and turned his head to look up at Tetsurou.  
The usual glint in his eyes and knowing smile were missing.  
“I’m just gonna go to Yaku’s room, I really need to finish this.” 

Tetsurou knew all about school sucking the life out of someone, so he gave Suga a hopefully encouraging smile and a comforting hand on his shoulder. 

Against his expectations, Suga flinched away from his touch, holding his shoulder like it had been burned. 

Slowly, Tetsurou started to realize that perhaps school was not the problem. He was. And even though he had no idea what he could have done to give Suga this harsh, almost cold facial expression, as he sat on the couch alone, another bland sea life documentary playing on the television, he found himself thinking about how he would have done anything to reverse it. 

***

Over the next week, Tetsurou went through both an intense caffeine withdrawal and an intense Suga withdrawal. One of which made his head ache, while the other one made him want to slam said head against a wall.  
Even in the mornings when Suga was home, he didn’t make Tetsurou coffee anymore and Tetsurou was still too embarrassed to go back to the coffee shop.  
He couldn’t even find it in him to just go to a different shop, somehow feeling like he would betray Suga by doing that.

Suga left early in the mornings and came home late in the evening.  
Tetsurou found himself staring at Suga’s shampoo and toothbrush in the bathroom more often than he’d like to admit, but it almost felt like the only proof that Suga was actually living in this apartment at that moment.

Except this Thursday evening, when Tetsurou came home, Suga was sitting on the couch, waiting for him.  
Tetsurou was so happy to finally see Suga’s face for more than five seconds again, he almost forgot that they had not been talking to each other.  
Only almost though, because Suga’s smile was still off, not as bright or welcoming as it had used to be. 

“Kuroo, I talked to Yaku today,” Suga said, his hands folded in his lap and his smile not reaching his voice or eyes. “I’m moving out a week earlier.”

All the thoughts about Suga’s fluffy hair, or Suga’s smooth skin, or Suga’s grey eyelashes in Tetsurou’s head stopped. It didn’t make sense.  
“What?”

Suga sighed and abandoned his fake smile. “Don’t worry about rent, I’m still paying the full amount.”

“Why are you moving out?” Tetsurou’s voice sounded hollow, even to himself.  
He had thought this would be his opportunity to make things right with Suga.  
He had hoped that they could make up and get close enough to justify staying in touch. All he wanted was more time with Suga, he didn’t even need to date him. 

“This way, it will be more comfortable for both of us.” 

“Suga, please,” Tetsurou said, stepping closer to the couch and crouching down in front of Suga, and it felt a lot like begging, “I don’t know what I did wrong, but I’m sure we can work this out”

It felt a lot more like a breakup than a temporary roommate moving out a week early. 

“I just can’t do this to you or to myself anymore,” Suga said quietly, avoiding Tetsurou’s gaze, “I’m sorry that I misunderstood your actions, I realized when you walked past the coffee shop after seeing me. I should have known you weren’t flirting, and if you were, that it didn’t mean anything to you. It’s not like me to get this attached, this quickly.  
I can’t make you uncomfortable if I just move out.” 

Tetsurou’s eyes widened in surprise, while Suga’s eyes scrunched close, like he was bracing himself for an attack. Suga had known this whole time. And Suga wanted Tetsurou to have been flirting with him?

“What are you even talking about? Of course it meant something, it’s you after all.” 

When Suga’s eyes opened again, they looked suspiciously shiny. 

“You like me?” Suga asked, as if it was not the most obvious and natural thing in the world. 

Tetsurou gently took Suga’s hands into his own and pressed a kiss to his palm. 

“Of course I do. I’ve thought you’re the prettiest person I’ve ever seen since the day I first walked into the coffee shop. And the last few weeks have shown me that you’re also funny, and smart, and caring, and kind of a little shit, to be honest.” 

Normally Tetsurou would have been more embarrassed to say things like that, but he had a Suga to comfort.  
It was worth it, when Suga started to smile again, and even though his eyes were still wet, it was brighter than any of the smiles Tetsurou had seen on him before. 

The angle was kind of bad when Suga leaned down to kiss him, but who was Tetsurou to complain.  
A giddy feeling rose in him, only the feeling of Suga’s shockingly soft lips on his making the realization that his crush liked him back sink in.

“Wait, Suga, you like me back?” Tetsurou interrupted the kiss to stare at Suga’s face, making sure that he was actually in front of him. 

“Of course I do, idiot,” Suga giggled.

Suddenly Suga’s face got more stern. “I’m glad we managed to figure this out, but I was really sad because of you. You’ll have to make it up to me.”

He pulled Tetsurou onto the couch with him, and Tetsurou was more than happy to comply. 

He had a feeling that dating his favorite barista and temporary roommate would be a lot easier than stupidly dancing around each other.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!  
> I'm excited to hear your thoughts!
> 
> [my twt](https://twitter.com/lilijanart?lang=de)


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